University of Delaware Athletics
Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Bill Phillips enters his tenth year on the University of Delaware men’s basketball staff in 2025-26 and his fifth as associate head coach. Phillips served as an assistant coach during his first five years before his promotion in July 2021.
Phillips played a key role in returning Delaware basketball to a place it has only been six times in program history with the CAA Championship title and NCAA Tournament First Round appearance in 2022. It marked the Blue Hens’ first conference crown since the 2014 season.
In its time in Newark, the staff has recruited and coached six Blue Hens to the pros, including Delaware’s first-ever NBA player, Nate Darling.
The Blue Hens have also garnered three CAA Rookie of the Year awards, 21 All-CAA honors, and six All-District nods, under the current staff.
Prior to arriving in Newark, Phillips spent the previous five years at CAA rival James Madison, including one as the staff’s director of operations and the next four as assistant coach. During his tenure at JMU Phillips assisted with off-campus recruiting, player development and the overall advancement of the program.
In his first year as an assistant, Phillips helped the Dukes win the CAA Tournament title, advance to their first NCAA Tournament since 1994, and post their first NCAA win in 30 years with a victory over LIU Brooklyn in the First Four.
Prior to arriving in Harrisonburg, Phillips spent the 2010-11 season as an assistant coach with Division II Philadelphia University, where he helped the Rams to a 15-12 record while working primarily with post player development.
Phillips began his collegiate playing career at William & Mary during the 1997-98 season, earning CAA All-Rookie honors after averaging 8.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. He then transferred to Saint Joseph’s, where he enjoyed a stellar three years that included earning second team All-Atlantic 10 and All-Big 5 honors during his junior and senior campaigns.
Phillips helped the Hawks reach the second round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament, before serving as captain of the 2001-02 squad that reached the second round of the Postseason NIT. He led SJU with 7.6 rebounds per game as a senior, while establishing a school record by hitting 49.5 percent of his three-point attempts. Phillips, who scored 1,007 points during his Hawks career and is currently fifth in school history with a 52.7 career field goal percentage, was inducted into the Saint Joseph’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
A two-time Academic All-American, Phillips was named the Atlantic 10 Student-Athlete of the Year in both 2000-01 and 2001-02. He graduated Cum Laude from Saint Joseph’s with a finance degree in 2001 and earned his master’s degree in financial services from the school in 2002.
Phillips then went on to play eight seasons of professional basketball at the international level, including stops with 10 different teams in France, Greece, Spain, Italy, and Germany.
Phillips and his wife, Ann, reside in Wilmington.
